1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to printers, and more specifically, the invention relates to a cost effective printer having a print head and/or platen with improved alignment and ease of installation and removal of same.
2. Description of Related Art
Printers have been adapted for extended operation via increased media capacity. With media exchange delayed by the increased media capacity, ease of exchange and re-alignment of printer wear components has increased significance with respect to reducing overall printer downtime and operating costs.
Thermal print heads are a wear component. The individual thermal elements and or the media contact surface of the print head that encloses the individual thermal elements degrade with use, eventually requiring removal and exchange of the print head.
For repeatable high quality printing, the print head is closely aligned with respect to the printer platen. However, each time the media is exchanged, the alignment between the print head and platen is disturbed to allow loading of the media between them.
Prior printers have incorporated relatively complex and therefore expensive to manufacture and service print head to platen alignment mechanisms with spring loaded cams, levers and or multiple guide surfaces. Other printers may be designed to trade ease of re-alignment and overall alignment precision for lowered manufacturing costs. In addition to the mechanical linkages, the print head is typically keyed to the platen shaft by a pair of fork arms that engage the platen shaft. While the fork arms are useful for alignment along the platen longitudinal axis, they typically provide only a limited side-to-side alignment function.
The platen is also a wear component. Further, the platen may also be fouled by media jams and or damaged by untrained operators attempting to clear media jams with sharp objects that gouge and or cut the relatively soft platen roller material. Because the platen is typically gear driven, mounted directly to the printer frame and buried under the print head alignment structures, removal of the platen for cleaning and or exchange may require printer disassembly beyond the capabilities of the typical user.
Competition in the printer industry has focused attention upon improving ease of use and print quality while reducing manufacturing materials and operations costs. Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a printer that overcomes deficiencies in such prior art.